EXPLORE THE NOTEBOOK
Notes from the command line, the workbench, and the vintage computer shelf.
The folder layout and naming rules I use for a pile of old Mac software, and the small PowerShell script that does the renaming without losing the original names.
The retro workbench · Note 4 ↗How I format and load HFS+ USB drives for old Macs from a Windows PC, plus the retro-specific catches that trip you up on the Mac side.
The retro workbench · Note 5 ↗Repack .7z files as plain Deflate ZIPs with UTF-8 file names, including password-protected ones, and test every result before the original goes anywhere.
Archive conversion workshop · Note 2 ↗A quick, safe software inventory from the registry, local or remote, that returns objects you can filter and export instead of a wall of colored text.
PowerShell craft · Note 5 ↗Clean old user profiles off shared PCs and servers through Win32_UserProfile, so the folder and the registry entry go together and nobody gets a TEMP profile.
Spring cleaning for Windows PCs · Note 2 ↗Find the old Outlook .ost files nobody is using any more and reclaim the space, without touching the ones Outlook has open.
Spring cleaning for Windows PCs · Note 3 ↗Clear old temp files from the usual suspects and run Disk Cleanup unattended, with an age threshold and a -WhatIf that shows how much you'd get back.
Spring cleaning for Windows PCs · Note 1 ↗When Windows Update is greyed out or just won't run, check all the policy values and services that can block it, and put them back the way Windows shipped.
Windows Update, untangled · Note 3 ↗Hand a list of folders from several drives to robocopy in one go, keep their structure on the new drive, catch name collisions before anything moves, and get a log per folder.
File wrangling · Note 3 ↗Pull shutdown, startup and crash events from the System log so you can tell a planned restart from a power cut, and see who or what asked for it.
Windows Update, untangled · Note 9 ↗A one-off local admin account done properly, with a hidden password prompt, a language-proof group lookup, and an expiry date for the temporary ones.
Local admin, done right · Note 1 ↗My notes from trying to bring a water-damaged Meta Quest 2 back to life, what each symptom probably points to, and where I'd go next.
Games and gear · Note 5 ↗